San Francisco 49ers notebook: Anthony Davis and Cliff Avril have own 'feud' going

SANTA CLARA -- Following their coaches' lead, 49ers left tackle Anthony Davis and Lions defensive end Cliff Avril had their own postgame confrontation last year, albeit on the cyberspace playground of Twitter.

"He doesn't like me, man. I don't know why," Davis said Wednesday, in advance of the 49ers-Lions rematch Sunday night at Candlestick Park. "I don't need any new friends. It's cool. It's not about one person going against one guy."

After the 49ers' 25-19 comeback win at Detroit last season, Davis boasted on Twitter about the 49ers' physical, tight-lipped approach. Davis' initial posts included profanity but didn't single out Avril or other Lions.

Avril, however, responded: "Lol that's real professional hommie ... We'll meet again and see what's up."

On Wednesday, Davis noted: "I wasn't talking to him. He started talking to me."

Their online feud didn't draw near the notoriety of their coaches' postgame rumble, stemming from Jim Harbaugh's euphoric handshake with Lions coach Jim Schwartz. Davis, displaying an amused smile, found himself in the mix of a wild scene as Schwartz angrily chased after Harbaugh on their way to the locker rooms.

"He ran up behind Coach, and I was making sure he didn't blindside Coach or anything," Davis recalled. "He's harmless. What's he really going to do? I thought it was funny."

Advertisement

Schwartz, on a conference call with the Bay Area media, did not wish to revisit the handshake. "We've all moved on from that. We've addressed that enough. The focus is on the 49ers. Anything that happened last year, in the game or anything else, doesn't have any bearing on this game."

Harbaugh told the Detroit media on a conference call that he planned to shake hands with Schwartz at some point Sunday.

Running back Brandon Jacobs (left knee) and wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. (right ankle) remained out of practice while doing individual conditioning. Neither played in Sunday's game, and neither has practiced since sustaining their injuries in the exhibition games.

Schwartz, on how the 49ers' having gone 26 straight quarters without committing a turnover: "You've got to have a really smart quarterback to do it, and Alex Smith is a really smart quarterback. He does a great job taking care of the football, which is extremely important, obviously. Turnovers are a big, big part of the NFL."

Randy Moss, with 14,905 career receiving yards, needs 30 more to surpass Tim Brown as No. 4 all-time in NFL history. Ahead of them are a trio of one-time 49ers: Jerry Rice (22,895), Terrell Owens (15,934) and Isaac Bruce (15,208).